"I'm the best corner[back] in the game. When you try me with a sorry receiver like Crabtree, that's the result you going to get." - Richard ShermanThat's the quote that got America talking.The man behind it was Seattle Seahawks all-pro defensive back Richard Sherman, a guy whose mouth is about the only thing louder than his game.In the moments after Sherman's post-game interview, Twitter exploded. People called him everything from a "thug" to a "disgrace," and even Justin Verlander - a professional pitcher for the Detroit Tigers - suggested that Sherman would get "high and tight" fastballs if he were in the MLB. On top of that, tweets and memes like the one below spread like wildfire.

But from my perspective, the heat Sherman is getting is not just misguided, it is ludicrous. This is a guy that represents one of the best kinds of sports stories there is in the world: the rise from the bottom, the profound destruction of obstacles, the honest success story built by a foundation of hard work and loving parents. If anyone with a brain took the time to learn about Richard Sherman, and then put him in the context of the rest of the National Football League, he'd be a pretty hard guy to bash.

Firstly, we're talking about a 25-year-old who came out of the streets of Compton, California. Sherman graduated one of the worst school districts in the United States, one that boasts a high-school graduation rate of 57 percent. In a country where 68 percent of all federal and state inmates are lacking a high school diploma, you could say Sherman avoided a horrifying fate. But to say he "got lucky" or "escaped" would be foolhardy. He didn't "just graduate," either. He finished with a 4.2 GPA, second in his class, and went on to Stanford University, one of the most prestigious places to get an education in the entire world. He busted out in a rocket ship. He went from a world of gang violence and drugs to everything that Palo Alto and Stanford University represent.

And where did Mr. Sherman get the work ethic to put up those kind of grades and make it to a school that offers that kind of education? Probably from his father, Kevin, who has worked in the sanitation department of Los Angeles for more than thirty years. But you won't see that on Sherman's stat sheet, and you definitely won't hear about it when ESPN analysts comment on his post-game interview today. Most interesting, though, is that Sherman's story isn't a big secret. NFL Films has even done a short documentary on the "The trash-talking cornerback."

Last year, Kansas City Chiefs player Javon Belcher killed Kasandra Perkins, his girlfriend and the mother of his own child before taking his own life.

Week in and week out, we sit down in front of our televisions and cheer for these freak athletes to destroy each other's bodies in one of the most brutal games known to man. Most of us probably do it with a beer in our hand, screaming and cursing at our TVs in a desperate hope to change the outcome of the game. We ignore how the NFL's owners use our tax money so freely and we don't seem to care much about the brain damage retired players suffer from every year.

Yet, when one kid who has overcome everything, one kid who was doubted by the very player he overcame on Sunday, decides to emphatically claim he is the best (by the way: he is), this is what upsets us? Man, could you imagine if this generation had to deal with Muhammad Ali?

Last night, when Richard Sherman went on his rant to Erin Andrews, most of America thought they were learning about the arrogance of another NFL player. But in reality, what Richard Sherman did was teach us about ourselves. He taught us that we're still a country that isn't ready for lower-class Americans from neighborhoods like Compton to succeed. We're still a country that can't decipher a person's character. But most of all, he taught us that no matter what you overcome in your life, we're still a country that can't accept someone if they're a little louder, a little prouder, or a little different than the people we surround ourselves with.

In the words of the great Richard Sherman, there is only one question: You mad, bro?

Good timing, seems you took the opportunity to take bad publicity on my favorite cornerback and turn it into good, and right on MLK day lol In fact, I bet King would be pleased to see Sherman freely speaking his mind

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J Dono

1/20/2014 09:02:57 am

I was listening to the game on the radio so I didn't see it live and sans TV for the last however long, I knew nothing about Sherman's life but from what I saw in the news the next morning. I'd like to think I wouldn't have said what he said, but I don't know what he's been through and I don't know what lead up to that. Thanks for shedding some light on the back-story.

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Isaac Saul

1/20/2014 09:12:27 am

No doubt. Definitely not an easy pair of shoes to put yourself in, but I can't imagine containing excitement like that in front of tens of thousands of people after making the play that he did. Who he is and how he got there only made the story better.

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Le

1/20/2014 11:07:33 am

You mentioned class, not race. That's a serious fail.

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Isaac Saul

1/26/2014 03:11:26 am

This isn't an issue of race for me. I think race played a factor in fringe groups of our society, but for the most part this is just about us being too quick to judge anyone and everyone (both the people we see on TV and the ones we interact with on a daily basis).

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Jeff Klinger

1/20/2014 01:14:25 pm

Thank you for setting the record straight. Very well written.

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Shannon

1/20/2014 01:34:25 pm

It really does not matter to me where he came from, or went to school or what he "overcame". We all have a story.. and just because we did better than our predecessors, or statistics or even what people believed we could does not give us a pass to act like a fool. Sure, he may not be a fool but his actions in that moment were foolish. No one is making a misjudgement on his character when they say negative things about that interview. Your character is based on how you handle situations when the heat is on you, when u are backed against the wall. When I saw the interview my immediate words to my husband were "wow i guess he doesn't realize he is not in the streets". I knew nothing about the guy and since the incident I have learned that he was indeed raised in "the streets". So a few seconds of him going off and that was immediately apparent and I think that is what people are keying in on.. they just don't know how to articulate what happened. I am sure he is a nice guy and tries daily to be that and I know now he is educated (though that did not show) but his character is what came through when he was placed in a position of challenge. And I hate that the race card is always pulled when it is a black person under fire for their words or actions. It is not always about that... my perspective as a black person

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Isaac Saul

1/26/2014 03:01:23 am

I'm not giving him a "pass" for what he did; I'm standing up for the character attacks that he took after a 20-second soundbite. As for "character being based on how you handle situations when the heat is on you," -- I think he handled the heat pretty well. He made the biggest play of his life in the biggest moment of his career, and he was excited about it. You have no idea what he has been through to get there, and neither do I. But I do know that he was genuine when he offered his hand to Crabtree and said, "hell of a game," and I can't imagine how mad he must have been to get smacked in the face on National TV. But we aren't talking about Crabtree's character, are we? And we shouldn't be, because that's a tough moment for any athlete and I understand him being upset. The message here is: We are too quick to judge people, as a country and as a society -- perhaps even all over the world, although my international experience doesn't have enough depth to know. By the way, race is not mentioned a single time in my article, so please don't insist "I pulled the race card." This, in my opinion, is a bigger and separate issue from racism.

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shannon

1/26/2014 06:15:35 am

Actually by not holding him accountable for his outburst and trying to redirect the focus to his accomplishments you ARE giving him a pass. You are either against his actions or for them, no in between and to be for them is to give him a pass. I did not say he was a bad guy. I said that in that moment his actions were foolish. And if you cannot see that I am sorry. Educated or not, from the streets or not, is not the issue at hand. Those are distractions from the issue. I will just say lastly that the entire undertone to your article is about race.

Josh

1/20/2014 03:35:56 pm

I respect what he has done in the past, but it is no excuse for being a poor winner. Kids play sports to learn how to be gracious in victory and defeat. Most don't go on to become professional athletes. Too bad he never learned this.

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me

1/21/2014 04:48:33 am

Oh, what a precious article. So because Richard Sherman had a hard life growing up in the ghetto, and he then went to Stanford, and then on to the NFL, it's OK for him to be a bully, a thug, and a narcissistic asshole. If I had anything to do with it, poor Richie would have been drug tested as soon as he got in the locker room because that level of rage and grandiosity can come from the use of PEDs. What a pathetic apologist you are for really poor behavior.

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matt

1/21/2014 09:38:15 am

Well said!!!! having an excellent story doesn't give u a pass in sportsmanship... Keep it on the field dick!! Once you involve the media you've broken the code, didn't we learn anything from the Richie Incognito incident? He is going to be headhunted by teams next year!! Dumb move Sherman!

me too...

1/21/2014 10:50:21 am

And you think all the trash talking that Crabtree did leading up to the game and the taunting on the field during the game isn't as likely coming from PEDs also? Good stinking lord. We take testosterone filled men who have to be amongst the most driven, competitive, and tough to be able to play at that level and then expect them to respond as though they are at high tea in England 10 seconds after such an adrenaline rush. Many of those guys are using PEDs on top of it all. Get over yourselves. As mentioned by another, many on here judging sat at home, screaming, cursing, and jumping up and down at the TV during the game. Imagine being in that moment. A bit of arrogance, maybe. Also by other actions shown during the same game, compassionate, educated, and articulate...but we don't as easily see those traits in a black man from Compton, with braids now do we? Oh, and charitable, too. By the way, I'm a blonde haired, blue eyed woman from the PNW, not that it matters, but I can guarantee, base upon what I know of his story, that it is more admirable that he is where he is today compared to me. People expected it of me, helped me, and he had to possess far more discipline and perseverance than I have. It's a shame. I'm not a Richard Sherman fanatic, but I surely don't hate him for 10 seconds of passion in the heat of the moment. He didn't offend me.

Isaac Saul

1/26/2014 03:04:20 am

You're missing the point I'm not excusing his behavior, I'm standing up for who I believe he is as a person. And while I'm doing that I'm also pointing out that we too easily and thoughtlessly throw around words like "thug," "bully," and "narcissistic asshole." IMO, nothing more narcissistic than thinking you know someone you've never met. I don't hear anybody begging for Tom Brady to be drug tested for PEDs when he spikes his helmet at the foot of a referee in the tunnel and then berates him on live TV...

Stacey

1/20/2014 09:46:28 pm

I'm from East L.A originally, I admit that there is a bit of a chip on my shoulder coming from there and succeeding here in the PNW. I can only imagine how pumped Sherman must have been and even though he may regret it, he earned the right to talk a Lil trash. I enjoyed this article. It reminded me that humility goes further than arrogance but I still wouldn't judge a man by 15 seconds of passionate language. Get over it.

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Duncan

1/21/2014 12:08:39 pm

I forgot that every other pro athlete who has made a big, game-winning play and then been interviewed, acts that way too. Completely forgot that it's actually an acceptable way to celebrate victory. I guess being humble doesn't have to be the right way to treat a win. Forgot that no one else in the NFL grew up poor and then graduated from an academically great university. If you're the best, you don't have to scream to the world that you're the best. Anyone else who gives that interview gets chastised, he gets a pass because he overcame the odds and became successful so it's alright, just let him have his moment? Not for me, man. I value sportsmanship not that arrogant bullshit. Why didn't T.O. and Randy Moss get passes in their prime? Were they not the best? I guess they just didn't grow up poor enough.